Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “adulterate” come from?

Adulterate comes from Middle English adulteren, from Old French adulterer, from Latin adulterāre meaning "to corrupt or make impure."

adulterate (English): Tending to commit adultery; Corrupted; impure;...

Definitions

  1. Tending to commit adultery; Corrupted; impure;...

Ancestry of “adulterate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinadulteratusadulterated
2Latinadulterō—
3Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “adulterate”

  • unadulterate
  • adulteratest
  • adulterateness
  • adulterateth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →